Success in any organization often depends on leadership ability to adjust quickly to a changing environment both internally and externally. Trends, regulations, competition and yes the economy may force organizational change. This change has a direct impact on employees often creating a decrease in morale which can lead to complacency and apathy. To circumvent these consequences leaders must justify, communicate and explain the long term benefits to the company and the employees. Sometimes it may simply mean survival. But, even survival can be positive when it relates to maintain security for the employee.
Timing is a critical component that the leader must recognize. Reacting too late on any situational change can lead to panic and fear. Both of these traits can paralyze the leader’s ability to solve problems and create solutions. Stuff happens but effective leaders --- Lead Wolf Leaders react quickly and appropriately. Follow these Lead Wolf Tips and improve your chance for success even in the most difficult circumstances.
1. Plan Carefully --- Planning saves time and money. It also prevents knee jerk decisions that are often wrong. Shooting from the hip may work in normal times but in times of crisis any risk should be calculated, thought through and executed diligently. Always consider down side consequences and create a detailed time table for execution.
2. Anticipate Resistance --- Consider motivation regarding any anticipated resistance to change. Resistance is often a result of fear – fear of losing status, power or security. Communicate with individual employees. Discuss their position and contribution honestly. Talk about their continued career paths or new career paths. Define and discuss the reasons and justifications for the change. Express appreciation for past and continued performance.
3. Communicate Openly & Honestly ---- Don’t make false promises. Honest communication is a must. Most resistance to any change is due to the lack of information. As a result employees make things up in their own minds that are predominantly extremely worse than the real situation. Put on your sales person hat because change, new ideas or any type of organizational change requires you to sell the idea.
4. Employee Buy-in ---- Getting employees involved in the early stages of change has several advantages. First and foremost, it is often amazing what employees can do if you just let them. It is often amazing what ideas employees can come up with if you just listen to them. Most of the time we overlook the incredible knowledge and talent that is at our finger tips. Getting employees involved creates ownership, minimizes mistakes and expensive consequences. People that are being effected directly by change often have the best insights on how to manage that change.
5. Trust and Respect Your Employees ----- I often repeat the phrase – “Employees won’t start trusting you until you starting trusting them.” “Employees won’t start respecting you until you start respecting them.” Credibility based on your past relationships with your employees will play a key role in creating success.
6. Execution --- The golden grail ---- nothing happens unless you execute. Create a D-Day kickoff and set up specific, timely accountability sessions to insure that everyone stays on point. Individual initiative related scorecards are a great tool to support execution. The more painful the change or challenge the more it necessitates quick action. Postponement only adds further complications.
7. Understand Contingency Planning ---- Regardless of circumstance, all Lead Wolf Leaders understand and prepare for contingencies. When times are really good we often call it scenario planning. This is nothing more than “What if Brainstorming Sessions”. However, during tough economic times it is imperative to actually create a contingency plan that outlines specific actions that may become necessary based on circumstance.
Check out Rick’s new CD and workbook Real World Leadership Kit --- “Learning to Lead So Others Will Follow”http://www.ceostrategist.com/resources-store/real-world-leadership.html
www.ceostrategist.com – Sign up to receive “The Howl” a free monthly newsletter that addresses real world industry issues. – Straight talk about today’s issues. Rick Johnson, expert speaker, wholesale distribution’s “Leadership Strategist”, founder of CEO Strategist, LLC a firm that helps clients create and maintain competitive advantage. Need a speaker for your next event, E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Ten Tips to Avoid Micro Management
Micro managing may make you feel in control but in reality you are only hurting yourself and the company. It only limits an employee’s ability to be innovative and creative. This can cost the company thousands of dollars because it is the creativity and innovation of your employees that maximize the profitability of your company. Micro Management is often just a symptom of ineffective planning, too much compassion and the inability to judge performance and develop bench strength.
Developing a strategic plan for your company is a very effective way to address any or all of these challenges. I often tell my clients that the most valuable part of a strategic plan is the development process itself. Running a company with a shoot from the hip mentality often encourages micro management and does not allow employees to develop their skills and maximize their potential. One of the many warning signs is a high turnover rate. The reason is simple; good employees just won’t tolerate micro management and they will leave to find employment that will challenge them and help them grow.
1. Try to understand your lack of delegating skills. If you keep things too close to the vest because you fear losing control, you may need personal coaching to help you understand that empowerment and delegation will actually increase your control as it provides you with more time to plan and work on strategic issues.
2. If you lack trust in your employees remember the statement --- “Employees won’t start trusting you until you start trusting them”. If you absolutely can not let go; ask yourself why you hired the employee. In the end if you can’t trust them you need to replace them. If you find you can’t trust any of your employees than you need help in developing your leadership skills.
3. Create a skills assessment inventory for every key employee. Supplement that exercise by creating a training and development matrix to improve the overall competency of the organization. Include yourself in the assessment. Communicate the purpose in a positive fashion to the employees.
4. Consider doing a 360 review that includes you as a leader or create an anonymous survey for employees to rate the entire management team, including you, and the company culture itself.
5. Utilize your skills assessment to make sure you have the right people in the right seats and identify future potential leadership.
6. Stop answering questions and start asking them. When an employee asks you what they should do, ask them what they think they should do.
7. Search for projects, issues or challenges that you would normally tackle and create a project team or empower an individual to solve the problem. Do this even if you think you have the answer.
8. Let your employees fail. The hardest thing to do is to watch an employee make a mistake. But, unless the mistake is life threatening or is going to cost the company thousands of dollars, it is a better learning process if the employee learns from his own mistake.
9. Provide more than just skill training and product training. Create an employee development program for those employees that show potential for future stardom. This development program must be based on empowering these employees to make tough decisions. Intern programs are also effective as a platform for development.
10. Results happen in various ways. Remember, you may have a specific way of doing things but it may not be the only way. As long as the employee is getting the results expected, give them praise. Your way may not be the best or only way.
Developing a strategic plan for your company is a very effective way to address any or all of these challenges. I often tell my clients that the most valuable part of a strategic plan is the development process itself. Running a company with a shoot from the hip mentality often encourages micro management and does not allow employees to develop their skills and maximize their potential. One of the many warning signs is a high turnover rate. The reason is simple; good employees just won’t tolerate micro management and they will leave to find employment that will challenge them and help them grow.
1. Try to understand your lack of delegating skills. If you keep things too close to the vest because you fear losing control, you may need personal coaching to help you understand that empowerment and delegation will actually increase your control as it provides you with more time to plan and work on strategic issues.
2. If you lack trust in your employees remember the statement --- “Employees won’t start trusting you until you start trusting them”. If you absolutely can not let go; ask yourself why you hired the employee. In the end if you can’t trust them you need to replace them. If you find you can’t trust any of your employees than you need help in developing your leadership skills.
3. Create a skills assessment inventory for every key employee. Supplement that exercise by creating a training and development matrix to improve the overall competency of the organization. Include yourself in the assessment. Communicate the purpose in a positive fashion to the employees.
4. Consider doing a 360 review that includes you as a leader or create an anonymous survey for employees to rate the entire management team, including you, and the company culture itself.
5. Utilize your skills assessment to make sure you have the right people in the right seats and identify future potential leadership.
6. Stop answering questions and start asking them. When an employee asks you what they should do, ask them what they think they should do.
7. Search for projects, issues or challenges that you would normally tackle and create a project team or empower an individual to solve the problem. Do this even if you think you have the answer.
8. Let your employees fail. The hardest thing to do is to watch an employee make a mistake. But, unless the mistake is life threatening or is going to cost the company thousands of dollars, it is a better learning process if the employee learns from his own mistake.
9. Provide more than just skill training and product training. Create an employee development program for those employees that show potential for future stardom. This development program must be based on empowering these employees to make tough decisions. Intern programs are also effective as a platform for development.
10. Results happen in various ways. Remember, you may have a specific way of doing things but it may not be the only way. As long as the employee is getting the results expected, give them praise. Your way may not be the best or only way.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
The Ghost of Griswold
On the Lighter Side ……………………… “The Ghost of Griswold
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Tracy and I made our annual trip to Ohio to see the kids, grandkids and some friends. We always celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas and my son’s birthday during our seven day stay. This year was no different. It’s amazing how Tracy can shop for four kids, their spouses and eight grandkids and get everything done in one day. What’s amazing about it is that she actually finds gifts that people want. Of course she does give out gift cards to the four grandkids that are teenagers.
My special gift this year turned out to be a “Bobble Head” made in my exact likeness. It was given to me by my son Rhett. So, it’s only appropriate that he be the main character in this month’s Lighter Side opening to The Howl. Everyone seemed to think the bobble head looked exactly like me. It was actually pretty funny. I have it on my desk in my office to remind myself not to take me too seriously.
The Ghost of Griswold
Most of you probably remember the Christmas movies done by Chevy Chase. Well my intelligent son Rhett actually enacted a scene that could have been right out of that movie. What happened started off as an innocent simple Christmas task of getting his decorations down from the attic. Since Thanksgiving was over, his wife Brea decided it was now time to put up the Christmas decorations. Up in the attic my son Rhett climbed with all the confidence of a climber that had just conquered Mt Everest.
His attic space is more like a crawl space and it’s pretty crowed up there. He had done it many times before but this time while he was walking from cross beam to cross beam (his attic doesn’t have an actual floor) he noticed that the beam he was about to step on looked like it had a crack in it. In all his wisdom he concluded that stepping on a cracked beam was a bad idea. Thinking he was still in the same athletic shape that he was when he was twenty (he’s 32 now) he took a long stride to skip two beams and put his right foot on the third beam over. As he lunged to make that long stride he bounced up a little and his head scrapped a nail sticking down from the roof. That’s when the “Ghost of Griswold” took over. Imagine the following sequence of events in slow motion since it all happened so fast.
Rhett let out a blood curdling scream as the nail ripped his scalp and blood started running down his cheek. His right foot landed on that third beam but his left that followed missed since he was grimacing in pain. His left foot came down hard on the drywall that was actually the kitchen ceiling. It plunged through the ceiling like it was paper thin ice followed by his right leg and all 170 lbs of his entire body. He managed to catch himself with his upper body so he was only exposed from just above his waist to his wife and their two sons (Dillon and Riley) who had just sat down at the kitchen table to eat.
All three of them screamed as they looked up at the ceiling only to see this pair of legs kicking in every direction like they were riding a bike or climbing an invisible staircase. They could hear their Dad’s muffled cry --- “Help me – Help Me”. Riley the older of the two boys (4 years old) went running to his room and came back with his toy telephone. He was calling 911 on it and telling the operator that his Daddy had fallen through the ceiling. All the while insulation was floating through the air and the kitchen table was covered with dry wall dust. The kid’s food was covered with it.
“Help me! --- Help me! Damit” – Rhett kept yelling while his wife Brea ran around the kitchen having no idea what to do. Finally she climbed up on a chair ---- Picture this ---- She grabbed his left foot with her left hand --- his right foot with her right hand and tried to push a 170# grown man up and out of the hole in the ceiling. I wasn’t there but I crack up just imagining what it must have looked like.
She struggled and pushed. Rhett grunted and pulled – she struggled and pushed (sounds like giving birth) he grunted and pulled until he finally managed to get one leg back up into the attic so he could pull himself the rest of the way up. Brea said that when he finally came down the right way --- he looked like a victim in a Freddie Krueger movie. The side of his face was covered with blood from the nail hole in his head, both forearms were scratched and bruised and he had pink insulation all over his upper body. Both boys started crying until Rhett assured them that Daddy was okay. Once Brea was sure he was okay she couldn’t help herself and she burst out laughing. That only lasted a few minutes until she looked up at the gigantic hole in her kitchen ceiling and realized what it might cost to get it fixed.
We had the privilege of seeing the hole covered with a plywood patch about 48” by 48” before we left Ohio. It was hilarious listening to Rhett’s sister Heather tell the story to everyone. I think the family decided to give Rhett a new nickname. From this point on we are going to call him Griswold.
Finding Our Way
I admit that both Tracy and I are a little bit challenged when it comes to directions. That is why we both have a GPS system in our cars. You would think however that going home to a place you spent most of your life in would not require following someone to your destination. On Thanksgiving Day we were on our way to my kids Mother’s house as we have done every year of the eight years Tracy and I have been married. Judy, the kids Mother does a fantastic job fixing dinner for over 30 people which includes both sides of the family. I was following my Son in Law - Frank to Judy’s house and decided that he was going the long way. So….. I turned off to get on the interstate. Little did I know that the entrance ramps were all closed down due to construction. Anyway, 45 minutes later after getting lost and taking several detours we finally made it to Judy’s house. Of course during our adventure Tracy made several comments that questioned my intelligence but I know she loves me in spite of my being direction challenged. Once we arrived everyone else had some observation to make about me getting lost in my own home town.
Consequently, Tracy decided she would drive home after dinner. I wasn’t paying much attention during the drive home since she was following my daughter. She made a comment about Heather driving really fast in a residential area. I looked up from a book I was browsing and realized were doing about 65 mph. Just then my cell phone rang. Heather was on the line wanting to know where the heck we were. Tracy kept yelling; “Ask her why she is driving so fast.” Heather heard her and commented. “I’m only doing 35 mph. Where are you? I don’t see you behind me.”
I looked at the car in front of us and burst out laughing. We weren’t following the black Jeep Cherokee that my daughter drives, we were behind a black Chevy Suburban. Tracy didn’t think it was funny and she became even more annoyed when I told her we must have driven about 10 miles in the wrong direction. She didn’t trust my instincts and called Heather back to get directions on how to find our way home since we weren’t behind her. Everyone had a laugh over that one.
I hope everyone has a great holiday season. And ….. Remember no matter what, we all have a lot to be thankful for. I know I do.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Tracy and I made our annual trip to Ohio to see the kids, grandkids and some friends. We always celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas and my son’s birthday during our seven day stay. This year was no different. It’s amazing how Tracy can shop for four kids, their spouses and eight grandkids and get everything done in one day. What’s amazing about it is that she actually finds gifts that people want. Of course she does give out gift cards to the four grandkids that are teenagers.
My special gift this year turned out to be a “Bobble Head” made in my exact likeness. It was given to me by my son Rhett. So, it’s only appropriate that he be the main character in this month’s Lighter Side opening to The Howl. Everyone seemed to think the bobble head looked exactly like me. It was actually pretty funny. I have it on my desk in my office to remind myself not to take me too seriously.
The Ghost of Griswold
Most of you probably remember the Christmas movies done by Chevy Chase. Well my intelligent son Rhett actually enacted a scene that could have been right out of that movie. What happened started off as an innocent simple Christmas task of getting his decorations down from the attic. Since Thanksgiving was over, his wife Brea decided it was now time to put up the Christmas decorations. Up in the attic my son Rhett climbed with all the confidence of a climber that had just conquered Mt Everest.
His attic space is more like a crawl space and it’s pretty crowed up there. He had done it many times before but this time while he was walking from cross beam to cross beam (his attic doesn’t have an actual floor) he noticed that the beam he was about to step on looked like it had a crack in it. In all his wisdom he concluded that stepping on a cracked beam was a bad idea. Thinking he was still in the same athletic shape that he was when he was twenty (he’s 32 now) he took a long stride to skip two beams and put his right foot on the third beam over. As he lunged to make that long stride he bounced up a little and his head scrapped a nail sticking down from the roof. That’s when the “Ghost of Griswold” took over. Imagine the following sequence of events in slow motion since it all happened so fast.
Rhett let out a blood curdling scream as the nail ripped his scalp and blood started running down his cheek. His right foot landed on that third beam but his left that followed missed since he was grimacing in pain. His left foot came down hard on the drywall that was actually the kitchen ceiling. It plunged through the ceiling like it was paper thin ice followed by his right leg and all 170 lbs of his entire body. He managed to catch himself with his upper body so he was only exposed from just above his waist to his wife and their two sons (Dillon and Riley) who had just sat down at the kitchen table to eat.
All three of them screamed as they looked up at the ceiling only to see this pair of legs kicking in every direction like they were riding a bike or climbing an invisible staircase. They could hear their Dad’s muffled cry --- “Help me – Help Me”. Riley the older of the two boys (4 years old) went running to his room and came back with his toy telephone. He was calling 911 on it and telling the operator that his Daddy had fallen through the ceiling. All the while insulation was floating through the air and the kitchen table was covered with dry wall dust. The kid’s food was covered with it.
“Help me! --- Help me! Damit” – Rhett kept yelling while his wife Brea ran around the kitchen having no idea what to do. Finally she climbed up on a chair ---- Picture this ---- She grabbed his left foot with her left hand --- his right foot with her right hand and tried to push a 170# grown man up and out of the hole in the ceiling. I wasn’t there but I crack up just imagining what it must have looked like.
She struggled and pushed. Rhett grunted and pulled – she struggled and pushed (sounds like giving birth) he grunted and pulled until he finally managed to get one leg back up into the attic so he could pull himself the rest of the way up. Brea said that when he finally came down the right way --- he looked like a victim in a Freddie Krueger movie. The side of his face was covered with blood from the nail hole in his head, both forearms were scratched and bruised and he had pink insulation all over his upper body. Both boys started crying until Rhett assured them that Daddy was okay. Once Brea was sure he was okay she couldn’t help herself and she burst out laughing. That only lasted a few minutes until she looked up at the gigantic hole in her kitchen ceiling and realized what it might cost to get it fixed.
We had the privilege of seeing the hole covered with a plywood patch about 48” by 48” before we left Ohio. It was hilarious listening to Rhett’s sister Heather tell the story to everyone. I think the family decided to give Rhett a new nickname. From this point on we are going to call him Griswold.
Finding Our Way
I admit that both Tracy and I are a little bit challenged when it comes to directions. That is why we both have a GPS system in our cars. You would think however that going home to a place you spent most of your life in would not require following someone to your destination. On Thanksgiving Day we were on our way to my kids Mother’s house as we have done every year of the eight years Tracy and I have been married. Judy, the kids Mother does a fantastic job fixing dinner for over 30 people which includes both sides of the family. I was following my Son in Law - Frank to Judy’s house and decided that he was going the long way. So….. I turned off to get on the interstate. Little did I know that the entrance ramps were all closed down due to construction. Anyway, 45 minutes later after getting lost and taking several detours we finally made it to Judy’s house. Of course during our adventure Tracy made several comments that questioned my intelligence but I know she loves me in spite of my being direction challenged. Once we arrived everyone else had some observation to make about me getting lost in my own home town.
Consequently, Tracy decided she would drive home after dinner. I wasn’t paying much attention during the drive home since she was following my daughter. She made a comment about Heather driving really fast in a residential area. I looked up from a book I was browsing and realized were doing about 65 mph. Just then my cell phone rang. Heather was on the line wanting to know where the heck we were. Tracy kept yelling; “Ask her why she is driving so fast.” Heather heard her and commented. “I’m only doing 35 mph. Where are you? I don’t see you behind me.”
I looked at the car in front of us and burst out laughing. We weren’t following the black Jeep Cherokee that my daughter drives, we were behind a black Chevy Suburban. Tracy didn’t think it was funny and she became even more annoyed when I told her we must have driven about 10 miles in the wrong direction. She didn’t trust my instincts and called Heather back to get directions on how to find our way home since we weren’t behind her. Everyone had a laugh over that one.
I hope everyone has a great holiday season. And ….. Remember no matter what, we all have a lot to be thankful for. I know I do.
The Six Strategic Success Drivers
The Six Strategic Success Drivers
How much value can you place on having all six drivers of success operating in an automatic mode? What is it worth to have your team and your company operate at a high energy level even when you are not there?
For that to happen, you need these success drivers:
The full buy-in of your Leadership Team toward a mutually-agreed vision. Make sure your company vision (End Game) is clear enough to inspire a great strategy, otherwise you wont create ownership
Their committed passion to execute a laser-focused strategic planning process
Crystal clear, time-bound goals with assigned ownership and specific deadlines for completion of critical action steps, with desired results identified.
An ownership supported system of accountability – including team-created and team-enforced key performance indicators – that ensures plan implementation.
A roll out process that generates excitement and buy-in throughout the entire organization. Don’t keep your strategy a secret from your employees. They need to have confidence there is a plan and know what their role is.
Make your strategy the driver of all company training so employees can make better decisions, feel more in charge, and know exactly what success looks like.
“Excitement breeds excitement – Success breeds success”
.
Get your employees excited about the strategic end game vision.
How much would you invest to have all that working for you...all day, every day?
Strategic planning is a management tool. It is used to help an organization clarify its future direction – to focus its energy, and to help members of the organization work toward the same goals. The planning process adjusts the organization’s direction in response to a changing environment. Strategic planning is a disciplined effort to support fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does and why it does it, with a focus on where it wants to go and how it is going to get there.
CEO Strategists Proprietary Strategic Planning Process Helps Strategic Thinking Companies Join the Upper Quartile Of High Achievers! E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com if you would like to discuss your planning needs.
listcode=117693166100002&25
How much value can you place on having all six drivers of success operating in an automatic mode? What is it worth to have your team and your company operate at a high energy level even when you are not there?
For that to happen, you need these success drivers:
The full buy-in of your Leadership Team toward a mutually-agreed vision. Make sure your company vision (End Game) is clear enough to inspire a great strategy, otherwise you wont create ownership
Their committed passion to execute a laser-focused strategic planning process
Crystal clear, time-bound goals with assigned ownership and specific deadlines for completion of critical action steps, with desired results identified.
An ownership supported system of accountability – including team-created and team-enforced key performance indicators – that ensures plan implementation.
A roll out process that generates excitement and buy-in throughout the entire organization. Don’t keep your strategy a secret from your employees. They need to have confidence there is a plan and know what their role is.
Make your strategy the driver of all company training so employees can make better decisions, feel more in charge, and know exactly what success looks like.
“Excitement breeds excitement – Success breeds success”
.
Get your employees excited about the strategic end game vision.
How much would you invest to have all that working for you...all day, every day?
Strategic planning is a management tool. It is used to help an organization clarify its future direction – to focus its energy, and to help members of the organization work toward the same goals. The planning process adjusts the organization’s direction in response to a changing environment. Strategic planning is a disciplined effort to support fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does and why it does it, with a focus on where it wants to go and how it is going to get there.
CEO Strategists Proprietary Strategic Planning Process Helps Strategic Thinking Companies Join the Upper Quartile Of High Achievers! E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com if you would like to discuss your planning needs.
listcode=117693166100002&25
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Don't Panic - Take a Deep Breath
October has been a month of sensationalizing our economic crisis on the part of the media. The "Rescue Plan" has been initiated but nobody really knows what is going on with the economy. The news media isn't helping by sensationalizing every little thing that is happening on an hour by hour basis.
We need to "Step Back - Take a Breath - Don't Panic & Spend Wisely" this Holiday season.
Yes --- things are tough. we may very well be heading for a deeper recession. But --- this is America. Market corrections are necessary. We'll get through it. That doesn't mean i condone the mindless actions that border on corruption that we have witnessed on Wall Street. In fact, I hope we can hold some of these CEO's that got financial bailouts and golden parachutes accountable for their actions. Some may need to go to jail.
I also am ready to puke when I think about what Freddie Mac nad Fanny Mae have done to our housing market. Make No Mistake --- It was Reid - Pelosi and Barney Frank who drove the housing market into the ground.
God help us if Obama is elected and the Democrats get a Super Majority in the House & the Senate with a President that is as far left as Obama.
I really believe that wont happen and we voters will rise to the occasion and put McCain and Palin in the Whitehouse.
Then we will have a fighting chance to get this economy rolling again and see recovery start to happen by the 3rd quarter of next year.
Get out and vote!!! And, check out my interview on Fox News about this Holiday Season.
Remember --- when it comes to shopping this Christmas ---- "Step Back -- Take a Deep Breath -- Don't Panic and Spend W#ithin Your Means".
Click on this link to view the interview. http://www.myfoxorlando.com/myfox/MyFox/pages/sidebar_video.jsp?contentId=7664583&version=1&locale=EN-US
We need to "Step Back - Take a Breath - Don't Panic & Spend Wisely" this Holiday season.
Yes --- things are tough. we may very well be heading for a deeper recession. But --- this is America. Market corrections are necessary. We'll get through it. That doesn't mean i condone the mindless actions that border on corruption that we have witnessed on Wall Street. In fact, I hope we can hold some of these CEO's that got financial bailouts and golden parachutes accountable for their actions. Some may need to go to jail.
I also am ready to puke when I think about what Freddie Mac nad Fanny Mae have done to our housing market. Make No Mistake --- It was Reid - Pelosi and Barney Frank who drove the housing market into the ground.
God help us if Obama is elected and the Democrats get a Super Majority in the House & the Senate with a President that is as far left as Obama.
I really believe that wont happen and we voters will rise to the occasion and put McCain and Palin in the Whitehouse.
Then we will have a fighting chance to get this economy rolling again and see recovery start to happen by the 3rd quarter of next year.
Get out and vote!!! And, check out my interview on Fox News about this Holiday Season.
Remember --- when it comes to shopping this Christmas ---- "Step Back -- Take a Deep Breath -- Don't Panic and Spend W#ithin Your Means".
Click on this link to view the interview. http://www.myfoxorlando.com/myfox/MyFox/pages/sidebar_video.jsp?contentId=7664583&version=1&locale=EN-US
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Picking Your Team
I often try to emphasize to executives and managers at all levels that you are only as good as the team you surround yourself with. You can be brilliant, visionary and exceptionally innovative but if you surround yourself with a team that is below average and close to incompetent, you will not be an effective leader. On the other hand, you can be nothing more than average but if the team around you is exceptionally competent, you will get the results of a superstar.
The first question that comes to mind simply stated is; who picked your team? If you inherited the team that surrounds you, your first priority is to figure out both the pluses and the minuses of each individual team member. Additionally it is your responsibility to make sure that every one of your team members clearly understands your expectations.
How Do You Know if You Have the Right Team
If the team you surround yourself with has such a dramatic influence on your performance as a leader, I have to ask you; when was the last time you evaluated your team? If you have never done it formally, do it now. It would be very beneficial to evaluate your team performance and individual team members every three to four months.
A cohesive management team is the most important ingredient to your company’s success. The management team needs to function as a cohesive unit to maximize their accomplishments. Success of your management team can be defined by what they accomplish as a group. A synergy within the team that creates unity, clarity of direction with a common purpose that is in alignment with strategic initiatives.
Here are three simple yet direct questions to use to assess your team:
1. Do you have the right people on your team? High quality people; people who can do a number of tasks; people who support your skills and negate your weaknesses. If you aren’t absolutely certain about every single team member, the chances are you have some team members that need further evaluation or potentially you need to replace them. Individuals do not usually fail because of lack of education, experience, training, or skills. They fail because their personality and behavior is not compatible to the behavioral requirements of their particular position. If employees are not suitable for their position or if they do not achieve their potential, the organization can fail or never achieve its potential. It certainly will never maximize effectiveness.
How can I be sure I have identified those people I must replace? A person may be highly talented but may not be the right fit for your team, your company. It's time to be honest with yourself. If you hired this person and things just don’t click, admit your mistake and move on.
3. How do I help my team maximize their effectiveness and validate that I have them performing the right functions for the company. (To Quote Collins, Good to Great; are they in the right seat on the bus?).
You must match their talents to your company needs and your needs as their leader. When you have the right people in just the right seat they will flourish. Success breeds success.The quality of your team personnel is the single most factor that determines whether you and the company are going to be successful, whether it will realize a satisfactory return on its investment, and whether it will maximize profitability!
“If the wrong person is selected initially to be on your team, no training program or motivational system, no matter how well conceived and designed, is likely to compensate adequately or offset the original error made in hiring such a person!”
William J. Winslow
Don’t be Perplexed
If you're just a bit perplexed on how to evaluate your team, e-mail me, rick@ceostrategist.com and I will put you in touch with the Winslow Institute which provides the best tool for evaluating team members that I have ever come across. The Winslow Employee Development tool will provide valuable insight into why some employees are functioning successfully and why others are performing unsatisfactorily. The Reports this tool generates will enable employees to capitalize on their personality assets and control behaviors that are limiting or preventing success in their positions. They will significantly increase the probability that every employee will be successful and achieve their potential. The best part is that it doesn’t cost a lot and the value provided compared to what turnover costs today is phenomenal. Don’t make the mistake of cutting back on employee development and training because economic conditions are tough. It’s in times like these that it is even more important that we make sure we have the right people in the right seats and we do everything possible to enhance their opportunity to maximize the effectiveness of the organization which, more importantly, will maximize profitability and growth.
Check out CEO Strategists Learning to Lead So Others Will Follow Planning Workbook and CD set.
http://www.ceostrategist.com/resources-store/real-world-leadership.html
The first question that comes to mind simply stated is; who picked your team? If you inherited the team that surrounds you, your first priority is to figure out both the pluses and the minuses of each individual team member. Additionally it is your responsibility to make sure that every one of your team members clearly understands your expectations.
How Do You Know if You Have the Right Team
If the team you surround yourself with has such a dramatic influence on your performance as a leader, I have to ask you; when was the last time you evaluated your team? If you have never done it formally, do it now. It would be very beneficial to evaluate your team performance and individual team members every three to four months.
A cohesive management team is the most important ingredient to your company’s success. The management team needs to function as a cohesive unit to maximize their accomplishments. Success of your management team can be defined by what they accomplish as a group. A synergy within the team that creates unity, clarity of direction with a common purpose that is in alignment with strategic initiatives.
Here are three simple yet direct questions to use to assess your team:
1. Do you have the right people on your team? High quality people; people who can do a number of tasks; people who support your skills and negate your weaknesses. If you aren’t absolutely certain about every single team member, the chances are you have some team members that need further evaluation or potentially you need to replace them. Individuals do not usually fail because of lack of education, experience, training, or skills. They fail because their personality and behavior is not compatible to the behavioral requirements of their particular position. If employees are not suitable for their position or if they do not achieve their potential, the organization can fail or never achieve its potential. It certainly will never maximize effectiveness.
How can I be sure I have identified those people I must replace? A person may be highly talented but may not be the right fit for your team, your company. It's time to be honest with yourself. If you hired this person and things just don’t click, admit your mistake and move on.
3. How do I help my team maximize their effectiveness and validate that I have them performing the right functions for the company. (To Quote Collins, Good to Great; are they in the right seat on the bus?).
You must match their talents to your company needs and your needs as their leader. When you have the right people in just the right seat they will flourish. Success breeds success.The quality of your team personnel is the single most factor that determines whether you and the company are going to be successful, whether it will realize a satisfactory return on its investment, and whether it will maximize profitability!
“If the wrong person is selected initially to be on your team, no training program or motivational system, no matter how well conceived and designed, is likely to compensate adequately or offset the original error made in hiring such a person!”
William J. Winslow
Don’t be Perplexed
If you're just a bit perplexed on how to evaluate your team, e-mail me, rick@ceostrategist.com and I will put you in touch with the Winslow Institute which provides the best tool for evaluating team members that I have ever come across. The Winslow Employee Development tool will provide valuable insight into why some employees are functioning successfully and why others are performing unsatisfactorily. The Reports this tool generates will enable employees to capitalize on their personality assets and control behaviors that are limiting or preventing success in their positions. They will significantly increase the probability that every employee will be successful and achieve their potential. The best part is that it doesn’t cost a lot and the value provided compared to what turnover costs today is phenomenal. Don’t make the mistake of cutting back on employee development and training because economic conditions are tough. It’s in times like these that it is even more important that we make sure we have the right people in the right seats and we do everything possible to enhance their opportunity to maximize the effectiveness of the organization which, more importantly, will maximize profitability and growth.
Check out CEO Strategists Learning to Lead So Others Will Follow Planning Workbook and CD set.
http://www.ceostrategist.com/resources-store/real-world-leadership.html
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Balance & The Power of Goals
You don’t have to be trapped by success. Success is a good thing but part of being successful is creating balance in your life. There are steps you can take to create the kind of balance that will not only improve your personal life expectations but they will enhance your business platform for success.
The Very First Thing
Sit down with your family and have an open honest discussion. Ask for their input, their observations and their opinions. Don’t get defensive and don’t act like a martyr. Listen, listen and listen some more. Refocus some of that entrepreneurial energy on creating family success.
Start setting personal goals. Start small, a family outing, a trip to Disney World, and a commitment to a reduction in travel or anything else that came up during your family meeting.
The Power of Goal Setting
There is power in setting goals and this applies not only to business goals but to personal goals as well. Consider the following key principles to improve the balance in your life:
Establish a goal that provides direction or a roadmap for your life on where you want to go.
Created a goal that establishes your personal authority over your life
Create a goal that is exciting and motivating for the whole family
Create a goal that helps reduce stress and provides personal relaxation
Create goals that give you and individual family members a sense of pride
While it may be macho to live without direction in the short-term, in the long-term we all need a purpose and direction. Goals give us a sense of direction and purpose to life.
It may be easier to allow our work, our boss, our friends and even our
enemies set our direction in life. However, the reality of the situation is that if we don’t set personal goals then we will find it much too easy to allow others to dictate the path we take. This is true even if you are the President or the CEO of your company. Simply put, it doesn’t matter, without personal goals you won’t have any chance of control over your destiny. Balance and happiness in our personal lives comes from the fulfillment of our personal goals and the excitement of following our own path and not someone else’s.
Personal goals not only provide us a direction but they provide motivation, encouragement and a sense of urgency for accomplishment. By setting goals not only do the goals define our destination but they help create a journey for us that becomes a foundation for our happiness. Our goals must be congruent with our unique perspective on life.
Stress Relievers
Goals save time, provide balance but they also reduce stress
because using your goals to focus your life and choices makes it easier to make those choices. Goals give you a sense of personal accomplishment that can be measured, not by numbers and graphs like you are used to, but measurements of smiles, chuckles, hugs, laughter and contentment. There is nothing more powerful than a smile from your little girl, a hug from your son or a thankful kiss from your soul mate.
Now go out there and put a priority on setting your personal goals. You will thank me for bringing it to your attention and your family will love you even more than they do now for doing it.
Check out CEO Strategists Learning to Lead So Others Will Follow Planning Workbook and CD set. http://www.ceostrategist.com/resources-store/real-world-leadership.html
The Very First Thing
Sit down with your family and have an open honest discussion. Ask for their input, their observations and their opinions. Don’t get defensive and don’t act like a martyr. Listen, listen and listen some more. Refocus some of that entrepreneurial energy on creating family success.
Start setting personal goals. Start small, a family outing, a trip to Disney World, and a commitment to a reduction in travel or anything else that came up during your family meeting.
The Power of Goal Setting
There is power in setting goals and this applies not only to business goals but to personal goals as well. Consider the following key principles to improve the balance in your life:
Establish a goal that provides direction or a roadmap for your life on where you want to go.
Created a goal that establishes your personal authority over your life
Create a goal that is exciting and motivating for the whole family
Create a goal that helps reduce stress and provides personal relaxation
Create goals that give you and individual family members a sense of pride
While it may be macho to live without direction in the short-term, in the long-term we all need a purpose and direction. Goals give us a sense of direction and purpose to life.
It may be easier to allow our work, our boss, our friends and even our
enemies set our direction in life. However, the reality of the situation is that if we don’t set personal goals then we will find it much too easy to allow others to dictate the path we take. This is true even if you are the President or the CEO of your company. Simply put, it doesn’t matter, without personal goals you won’t have any chance of control over your destiny. Balance and happiness in our personal lives comes from the fulfillment of our personal goals and the excitement of following our own path and not someone else’s.
Personal goals not only provide us a direction but they provide motivation, encouragement and a sense of urgency for accomplishment. By setting goals not only do the goals define our destination but they help create a journey for us that becomes a foundation for our happiness. Our goals must be congruent with our unique perspective on life.
Stress Relievers
Goals save time, provide balance but they also reduce stress
because using your goals to focus your life and choices makes it easier to make those choices. Goals give you a sense of personal accomplishment that can be measured, not by numbers and graphs like you are used to, but measurements of smiles, chuckles, hugs, laughter and contentment. There is nothing more powerful than a smile from your little girl, a hug from your son or a thankful kiss from your soul mate.
Now go out there and put a priority on setting your personal goals. You will thank me for bringing it to your attention and your family will love you even more than they do now for doing it.
Check out CEO Strategists Learning to Lead So Others Will Follow Planning Workbook and CD set. http://www.ceostrategist.com/resources-store/real-world-leadership.html
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Strategic Planning - Six Strategic Success Drivers
Hey
Just returned from a Strategic Planning session in Cleveland (The Mistake by the Lake). The weather was actually pretty good. The session reminded me of the key drivers to successful planning and i thought i would share them with you.
The Six Strategic Success Drivers
How much value can you place on having all six drivers of success operating in an automatic mode? What is it worth to have your team and your company operate at a high energy level even when you are not there?
For that to happen, you need these success drivers:
The full buy-in of your Leadership Team toward a mutually-agreed vision. Make sure your company vision (End Game) is clear enough to inspire a great strategy, otherwise you wont create ownership
Their committed passion to execute a laser-focused strategic planning process
Crystal clear, time-bound goals with assigned ownership and specific deadlines for completion of critical action steps, with desired results identified.
An ownership supported system of accountability – including team-created and team-enforced key performance indicators – that ensures plan implementation.
A roll out process that generates excitement and buy-in throughout the entire organization. Don’t keep your strategy a secret from your employees. They need to have confidence there is a plan and know what their role is.
Make your strategy the driver of all company training so employees can make better decisions, feel more in charge, and know exactly what success looks like.
“Excitement breeds excitement – Success breeds success”
Get your employees excited about the strategic end game vision.
How much would you invest to have all that working for you...all day, every day?
Strategic planning is a management tool. It is used to help an organization clarify its future direction – to focus its energy, and to help members of the organization work toward the same goals. The planning process adjusts the organization’s direction in response to a changing environment. Strategic planning is a disciplined effort to support fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does and why it does it, with a focus on where it wants to go and how it is going to get there.
CEO Strategists Proprietary Strategic Planning Process Helps Strategic Thinking Companies Join the Upper Quartile Of High Achievers! E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com if you would like to discuss your planning needs.
www.ceostrategist.com – Sign up to receive “The Howl” a free monthly newsletter that addresses real world industry issues. – Straight talk about today’s issues. Rick Johnson, expert speaker, wholesale distribution’s “Leadership Strategist”, founder of CEO Strategist, LLC a firm that helps clients create and maintain competitive advantage. Need a speaker for your next event, E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com. Don’t forget to check out the Lead Wolf Series that can help you put more profit into your business.
Just returned from a Strategic Planning session in Cleveland (The Mistake by the Lake). The weather was actually pretty good. The session reminded me of the key drivers to successful planning and i thought i would share them with you.
The Six Strategic Success Drivers
How much value can you place on having all six drivers of success operating in an automatic mode? What is it worth to have your team and your company operate at a high energy level even when you are not there?
For that to happen, you need these success drivers:
The full buy-in of your Leadership Team toward a mutually-agreed vision. Make sure your company vision (End Game) is clear enough to inspire a great strategy, otherwise you wont create ownership
Their committed passion to execute a laser-focused strategic planning process
Crystal clear, time-bound goals with assigned ownership and specific deadlines for completion of critical action steps, with desired results identified.
An ownership supported system of accountability – including team-created and team-enforced key performance indicators – that ensures plan implementation.
A roll out process that generates excitement and buy-in throughout the entire organization. Don’t keep your strategy a secret from your employees. They need to have confidence there is a plan and know what their role is.
Make your strategy the driver of all company training so employees can make better decisions, feel more in charge, and know exactly what success looks like.
“Excitement breeds excitement – Success breeds success”
Get your employees excited about the strategic end game vision.
How much would you invest to have all that working for you...all day, every day?
Strategic planning is a management tool. It is used to help an organization clarify its future direction – to focus its energy, and to help members of the organization work toward the same goals. The planning process adjusts the organization’s direction in response to a changing environment. Strategic planning is a disciplined effort to support fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does and why it does it, with a focus on where it wants to go and how it is going to get there.
CEO Strategists Proprietary Strategic Planning Process Helps Strategic Thinking Companies Join the Upper Quartile Of High Achievers! E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com if you would like to discuss your planning needs.
www.ceostrategist.com – Sign up to receive “The Howl” a free monthly newsletter that addresses real world industry issues. – Straight talk about today’s issues. Rick Johnson, expert speaker, wholesale distribution’s “Leadership Strategist”, founder of CEO Strategist, LLC a firm that helps clients create and maintain competitive advantage. Need a speaker for your next event, E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com. Don’t forget to check out the Lead Wolf Series that can help you put more profit into your business.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Quebec City
Hey -- TGIF
It's Friday the 22nd of August and I just returned from Quebec City, Canada. Unfortunately the tropical storm/hurricane Faye is still hanging on in Central Florida and we are getting drenched. There are some cities that got at least 24" of rain. Living in The Villages in Central Florida has it's advantages since we don't have to deal with the surges from the ocean and costal waterways.
Quebec City was great. I was there to do a session titled "Effective Leadership in Turbulent Times" for CHRAW & HARDI. The audience was great and the host for the event (HRAI) was even greater. Thanks to Heather Grimoldby-Campbell for making everything go like clockwork.
Current times can certainly be termed turbulent not only in the distribution industry but in the country in general. However, this session focused on dealing with current economic conditions, leadership, building a co-hesive team, recession proofing and Releasing the Power of Profitabilty in your employees.
For those who don't know, HRAI is the Heating, Refrigeration and Air conditioning Institute of Canada.
I was a little concerned about getting out of Florida before the hurricane hit and was hoping to return after it was long gone. No such luck.
So, as I sit here watching the rain fall in buckets, I can't help but wonder if my Tee Time for tommorrow will be cancelled or not.
Have a great weekend.
It's Friday the 22nd of August and I just returned from Quebec City, Canada. Unfortunately the tropical storm/hurricane Faye is still hanging on in Central Florida and we are getting drenched. There are some cities that got at least 24" of rain. Living in The Villages in Central Florida has it's advantages since we don't have to deal with the surges from the ocean and costal waterways.
Quebec City was great. I was there to do a session titled "Effective Leadership in Turbulent Times" for CHRAW & HARDI. The audience was great and the host for the event (HRAI) was even greater. Thanks to Heather Grimoldby-Campbell for making everything go like clockwork.
Current times can certainly be termed turbulent not only in the distribution industry but in the country in general. However, this session focused on dealing with current economic conditions, leadership, building a co-hesive team, recession proofing and Releasing the Power of Profitabilty in your employees.
For those who don't know, HRAI is the Heating, Refrigeration and Air conditioning Institute of Canada.
I was a little concerned about getting out of Florida before the hurricane hit and was hoping to return after it was long gone. No such luck.
So, as I sit here watching the rain fall in buckets, I can't help but wonder if my Tee Time for tommorrow will be cancelled or not.
Have a great weekend.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Hiring is not Easy
Hiring is not Easy ---- Interviewing Techniques to Improve Your Success
By: Dr. Rick Johnson, CEO Strategist
Interview Objectives
The first thing we need to establish before we go through any interviews are the objectives of the selection process. Interviewing should not be just about filling an open position. Anytime you have an opening to hire someone, you have an opportunity to build
bench strength, organizational effectiveness and the opportunity to introduce fresh ideas and new insights into the organization and it doesn’t matter what level in the hierarchy the opening exists in. Consider the following key objectives of the selection process.
Filling the immediate opening with an individual with the required skill sets.
Building a talent pool for future job openings at higher levels in the organization. Promotion from within is a building block for unity, cohesiveness and validation of respect for employees. Make sure you select the best based on not only current skill sets but also based on future potential for individual growth.
A cultural fit. Developing or maintaining a specific cultural identity should be a consideration. Teamwork and camaraderie is essential to success. Personality profiling can help you determine if the job candidate will “fit in” to your organization. Peer interviews of final candidates can also prove beneficial.
Consider the “Team Interview” Approach
When a job opening occurs, this is an opportunity to do a job function analysis to determine if the current scope of authority and responsibility are in alignment with departmental and corporate objectives. A hiring team made up of the departmental supervisor, a Human Resources (HR) representative, and another departmental manager that has a stake in the functions that are performed by this particular job injects balance and insight into the hiring process... Of course, HR does all the initial screening of candidates based on the qualifications and skill sets outlined by the manager that the candidate will report to. It is very possible that these job requirements have changed based on the job function analysis. In fact, I have seen cases where the entire job has changed and even the person the job candidate reports to can change.
Now, Let’s Face Reality
Hiring the right individual, with the right skill set, that has the right attitude and the right personality to fit in can be one of the most challenging endeavors any manager will ever face. Leveraging your chance of success by using the team approach, profile testing and seriously checking references helps. But, if you have several qualified candidates it’s still like flipping a coin. You just can’t be positive about your choice until you see the individual in action. Sometimes it takes months, even years to see the real person you hired whether it’s really good or really bad. Finding the really bad ones months after you have hired them can be extremely expensive.
Face it. What you are trying to accomplish in the selection process is to predict the way an individual will behave in the future in your environment working for a specific manager. The question that needs to be answered is ---- “How will this candidate perform on X job in department Y at your company.
Obviously, you can not predict the future behavior of any individual regardless of the testing, the interviews or the reference checking with a high degree of accuracy. No one can. However, if you study the environment that the individual will be working under, you have leader’s not just managers in your organization that understand the concept of coaching and mentoring and if you have done your homework on the individual candidate, then your odds of success improve dramatically.
By the way, nobody ever provides a reference on a resume from someone that isn’t going to sing glowing praises about them. If you really want more realistic references, call the candidates former employers and just ask to talk to someone in the department that the candidate worked in. You may even be able to get some names while you are interviewing the candidate through casual conversation.
Remember, prediction of candidates probable future behavior can be based on the assumption that people tend to behave consistently under similar circumstances. Knowledge of present and past behavior is derived by asking the right questions during an interview and doing thorough and complete reference and back ground checks.
Key Principles of a Successful Interview Process
Know everything possible about the job requirement that need to be filled. Don’t depend solely on a written job description. Define the requirements for both good performance and exceptional performance. Try to anticipate the leadership skills required regardless of the level of responsibility of the position.
Do your homework. Find out as much as possible about your final candidates. Check references (Including some not listed by the candidate), do a back ground check, analyze the data on the application and the resume and collect as much data during the interviewing process as possible. Using the team approach for separate interviews allows you to collaborate and compare answers and opinions.
Match the candidate’s skills/qualifications to the job requirements and evaluate his future development potential. This process should utilize structured questions to solicit and evaluate the candidate’s level of skills that match the skill requirements of the particular job.
Make your decision based on the evaluation of all the data as well as the collaboration between the individual interviewers.
Sign up for "The Howl" @ ceostrategist.com and download the Lead Wolf interview guide that provides the following:
What an interview team should know about job requirements
What an interviewer should try to discover during an interview
A basic understanding of the interview process including
Interview objectives
Conducting the interview
Sample thought provoking questions
Evaluating the candidate using the data collected
Pre-interview question guide. A list of both legal and illegal questions to help you avoid problem areas. (Note—this is not a comprehensive list and it is not intended to give legal advice)
www.ceostrategist.com – Sign up to receive “The Howl” a fre*e monthly newsletter and get your choice of "CEO Strategist's Hiring and Interview Guide" or "The Guide to Effective Training Sessions", valuable resources for all levels of management. The Howl addresses real world industry issues. – Straight talk about today’s issues. Rick Johnson, expert speaker, wholesale distribution’s “Leadership Strategist”, founder of CEO Strategist, LLC a firm that helps clients create and maintain competitive advantage. Need a speaker for your next event, E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com.
By: Dr. Rick Johnson, CEO Strategist
Interview Objectives
The first thing we need to establish before we go through any interviews are the objectives of the selection process. Interviewing should not be just about filling an open position. Anytime you have an opening to hire someone, you have an opportunity to build
bench strength, organizational effectiveness and the opportunity to introduce fresh ideas and new insights into the organization and it doesn’t matter what level in the hierarchy the opening exists in. Consider the following key objectives of the selection process.
Filling the immediate opening with an individual with the required skill sets.
Building a talent pool for future job openings at higher levels in the organization. Promotion from within is a building block for unity, cohesiveness and validation of respect for employees. Make sure you select the best based on not only current skill sets but also based on future potential for individual growth.
A cultural fit. Developing or maintaining a specific cultural identity should be a consideration. Teamwork and camaraderie is essential to success. Personality profiling can help you determine if the job candidate will “fit in” to your organization. Peer interviews of final candidates can also prove beneficial.
Consider the “Team Interview” Approach
When a job opening occurs, this is an opportunity to do a job function analysis to determine if the current scope of authority and responsibility are in alignment with departmental and corporate objectives. A hiring team made up of the departmental supervisor, a Human Resources (HR) representative, and another departmental manager that has a stake in the functions that are performed by this particular job injects balance and insight into the hiring process... Of course, HR does all the initial screening of candidates based on the qualifications and skill sets outlined by the manager that the candidate will report to. It is very possible that these job requirements have changed based on the job function analysis. In fact, I have seen cases where the entire job has changed and even the person the job candidate reports to can change.
Now, Let’s Face Reality
Hiring the right individual, with the right skill set, that has the right attitude and the right personality to fit in can be one of the most challenging endeavors any manager will ever face. Leveraging your chance of success by using the team approach, profile testing and seriously checking references helps. But, if you have several qualified candidates it’s still like flipping a coin. You just can’t be positive about your choice until you see the individual in action. Sometimes it takes months, even years to see the real person you hired whether it’s really good or really bad. Finding the really bad ones months after you have hired them can be extremely expensive.
Face it. What you are trying to accomplish in the selection process is to predict the way an individual will behave in the future in your environment working for a specific manager. The question that needs to be answered is ---- “How will this candidate perform on X job in department Y at your company.
Obviously, you can not predict the future behavior of any individual regardless of the testing, the interviews or the reference checking with a high degree of accuracy. No one can. However, if you study the environment that the individual will be working under, you have leader’s not just managers in your organization that understand the concept of coaching and mentoring and if you have done your homework on the individual candidate, then your odds of success improve dramatically.
By the way, nobody ever provides a reference on a resume from someone that isn’t going to sing glowing praises about them. If you really want more realistic references, call the candidates former employers and just ask to talk to someone in the department that the candidate worked in. You may even be able to get some names while you are interviewing the candidate through casual conversation.
Remember, prediction of candidates probable future behavior can be based on the assumption that people tend to behave consistently under similar circumstances. Knowledge of present and past behavior is derived by asking the right questions during an interview and doing thorough and complete reference and back ground checks.
Key Principles of a Successful Interview Process
Know everything possible about the job requirement that need to be filled. Don’t depend solely on a written job description. Define the requirements for both good performance and exceptional performance. Try to anticipate the leadership skills required regardless of the level of responsibility of the position.
Do your homework. Find out as much as possible about your final candidates. Check references (Including some not listed by the candidate), do a back ground check, analyze the data on the application and the resume and collect as much data during the interviewing process as possible. Using the team approach for separate interviews allows you to collaborate and compare answers and opinions.
Match the candidate’s skills/qualifications to the job requirements and evaluate his future development potential. This process should utilize structured questions to solicit and evaluate the candidate’s level of skills that match the skill requirements of the particular job.
Make your decision based on the evaluation of all the data as well as the collaboration between the individual interviewers.
Sign up for "The Howl" @ ceostrategist.com and download the Lead Wolf interview guide that provides the following:
What an interview team should know about job requirements
What an interviewer should try to discover during an interview
A basic understanding of the interview process including
Interview objectives
Conducting the interview
Sample thought provoking questions
Evaluating the candidate using the data collected
Pre-interview question guide. A list of both legal and illegal questions to help you avoid problem areas. (Note—this is not a comprehensive list and it is not intended to give legal advice)
www.ceostrategist.com – Sign up to receive “The Howl” a fre*e monthly newsletter and get your choice of "CEO Strategist's Hiring and Interview Guide" or "The Guide to Effective Training Sessions", valuable resources for all levels of management. The Howl addresses real world industry issues. – Straight talk about today’s issues. Rick Johnson, expert speaker, wholesale distribution’s “Leadership Strategist”, founder of CEO Strategist, LLC a firm that helps clients create and maintain competitive advantage. Need a speaker for your next event, E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com.
Picking Your Management Team
Picking Your Team
Dr. Rick Johnson
I often try to emphasize to executives and managers at all levels that you are only as good as the team you surround yourself with. You can be brilliant, visionary and exceptionally innovative but if you surround yourself with a team that is below average and close to incompetent, you will not be an effective leader. On the other hand, you can be nothing more than average but if the team around you is exceptionally competent, you will get the results of a superstar.
The first question that comes to mind simply stated is; who picked your team? If you inherited the team that surrounds you, your first priority is to figure out both the pluses and the minuses of each individual team member. Additionally it is your responsibility to make sure that every one of your team members clearly understands your expectations.
How Do You Know if You Have the Right Team?
If the team you surround yourself with has such a dramatic influence on your performance as a leader, I have to ask you; when was the last time you evaluated your team? If you have never done it formally, do it now. It would be very beneficial to evaluate your team performance and individual team members every three to four months.
A cohesive management team is the most important ingredient to your company’s success. The management team needs to function as a cohesive unit to maximize their accomplishments. Success of your management team can be defined by what they accomplish as a group. A synergy within the team that creates unity, clarity of direction with a common purpose that is in alignment with strategic initiatives.
Here are three simple yet direct questions to use to assess your team:
1. Do you have the right people on your team? High quality people; people who can do a number of tasks; people who support your skills and negate your weaknesses. If you aren’t absolutely certain about every single team member, the chances are you have some team members that need further evaluation or potentially you need to replace them. Individuals do not usually fail because of lack of education, experience, training, or skills. They fail because their personality and behavior is not compatible to the behavioral requirements of their particular position. If employees are not suitable for their position or if they do not achieve their potential, the organization can fail or never achieve its potential. It certainly will never maximize effectiveness.
2. How can I be sure I have identified those people I must replace? A person may be highly talented but may not be the right fit for your team, your company. It's time to be honest with yourself. If you hired this person and things just don’t click, admit your mistake and move on.
3. How do I help my team maximize their effectiveness and validate that I have them performing the right functions for the company. (To Quote Collins, Good to Great; are they in the right seat on the bus?). You must match their talents to your company needs and your needs as their leader. When you have the right people in just the right seat they will flourish. Success breeds success.
The quality of your team personnel is the single most factor that determines whether you and the company are going to be successful, whether it will realize a satisfactory return on its investment, and whether it will maximize profitability!
“If the wrong person is selected initially to be on your team, no training program or motivational system, no matter how well conceived and designed, is likely to compensate adequately or offset the original error made in hiring such a person!”
William J. Winslow
Don’t be Perplexed
If you're just a bit perplexed on how to evaluate your team, e-mail me, rick@ceostrategist.com and I will put you in touch with the Winslow Institute which provides the best tool for evaluating team members that I have ever come across. The Winslow Employee Development tool will provide valuable insight into why some employees are functioning successfully and why others are performing unsatisfactorily. The Reports this tool generates will enable employees to capitalize on their personality assets and control behaviors that are limiting or preventing success in their positions. They will significantly increase the probability that every employee will be successful and achieve their potential. The best part is that it doesn’t cost a lot and the value provided compared to what turnover costs today is phenomenal. Don’t make the mistake of cutting back on employee development and training because economic conditions are tough. It’s in times like these that it is even more important that we make sure we have the right people in the right seats and we do everything possible to enhance their opportunity to maximize the effectiveness of the organization which, more importantly, will maximize profitability and growth.
Check out CEO Strategists Learning to Lead So Others Will Follow Planning Workbook and CD set.
http://www.ceostrategist.com/resources-store/real-world-leadership.html
Dr. Rick Johnson
I often try to emphasize to executives and managers at all levels that you are only as good as the team you surround yourself with. You can be brilliant, visionary and exceptionally innovative but if you surround yourself with a team that is below average and close to incompetent, you will not be an effective leader. On the other hand, you can be nothing more than average but if the team around you is exceptionally competent, you will get the results of a superstar.
The first question that comes to mind simply stated is; who picked your team? If you inherited the team that surrounds you, your first priority is to figure out both the pluses and the minuses of each individual team member. Additionally it is your responsibility to make sure that every one of your team members clearly understands your expectations.
How Do You Know if You Have the Right Team?
If the team you surround yourself with has such a dramatic influence on your performance as a leader, I have to ask you; when was the last time you evaluated your team? If you have never done it formally, do it now. It would be very beneficial to evaluate your team performance and individual team members every three to four months.
A cohesive management team is the most important ingredient to your company’s success. The management team needs to function as a cohesive unit to maximize their accomplishments. Success of your management team can be defined by what they accomplish as a group. A synergy within the team that creates unity, clarity of direction with a common purpose that is in alignment with strategic initiatives.
Here are three simple yet direct questions to use to assess your team:
1. Do you have the right people on your team? High quality people; people who can do a number of tasks; people who support your skills and negate your weaknesses. If you aren’t absolutely certain about every single team member, the chances are you have some team members that need further evaluation or potentially you need to replace them. Individuals do not usually fail because of lack of education, experience, training, or skills. They fail because their personality and behavior is not compatible to the behavioral requirements of their particular position. If employees are not suitable for their position or if they do not achieve their potential, the organization can fail or never achieve its potential. It certainly will never maximize effectiveness.
2. How can I be sure I have identified those people I must replace? A person may be highly talented but may not be the right fit for your team, your company. It's time to be honest with yourself. If you hired this person and things just don’t click, admit your mistake and move on.
3. How do I help my team maximize their effectiveness and validate that I have them performing the right functions for the company. (To Quote Collins, Good to Great; are they in the right seat on the bus?). You must match their talents to your company needs and your needs as their leader. When you have the right people in just the right seat they will flourish. Success breeds success.
The quality of your team personnel is the single most factor that determines whether you and the company are going to be successful, whether it will realize a satisfactory return on its investment, and whether it will maximize profitability!
“If the wrong person is selected initially to be on your team, no training program or motivational system, no matter how well conceived and designed, is likely to compensate adequately or offset the original error made in hiring such a person!”
William J. Winslow
Don’t be Perplexed
If you're just a bit perplexed on how to evaluate your team, e-mail me, rick@ceostrategist.com and I will put you in touch with the Winslow Institute which provides the best tool for evaluating team members that I have ever come across. The Winslow Employee Development tool will provide valuable insight into why some employees are functioning successfully and why others are performing unsatisfactorily. The Reports this tool generates will enable employees to capitalize on their personality assets and control behaviors that are limiting or preventing success in their positions. They will significantly increase the probability that every employee will be successful and achieve their potential. The best part is that it doesn’t cost a lot and the value provided compared to what turnover costs today is phenomenal. Don’t make the mistake of cutting back on employee development and training because economic conditions are tough. It’s in times like these that it is even more important that we make sure we have the right people in the right seats and we do everything possible to enhance their opportunity to maximize the effectiveness of the organization which, more importantly, will maximize profitability and growth.
Check out CEO Strategists Learning to Lead So Others Will Follow Planning Workbook and CD set.
http://www.ceostrategist.com/resources-store/real-world-leadership.html
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